The Church marginalizes Catalan in the Pope's visit

BarcelonaThe visit of Pope Leo XIV to Catalonia has caused bewilderment, at least regarding the use of language. The official official missal for the visit to the State was published this Monday and allows us to confirm that the Catalan language is marginalized to a secondary role in Catalonia, with Spanish having a preeminent role. It is so prevalent that there will even be important parts exclusively in Spanish, such as the blessing of the Tower of Jesus Christ of the Sagrada Familia basilica, which will coincide with the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, an architect deeply committed to Catalanism.

The organization had insisted in all press conferences that the presence of Catalan was "resolved" and that it would have an important role, and it was even said that "the Holy Father will speak in Catalan," as stated by Father Enric Puig, coordinator of the apostolic visit to Catalonia. But the supposed balance between Catalan and Spanish is not true, according to what the Holy See published this Monday. While during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, for the consecration of the Sagrada Familia, there was a balance, a greater weight of Catalan than now, and a relevant presence of Latin, on this occasion Latin becomes anecdotal and Spanish will reign in the mass at the basilica.

If we take a look at the text provided by the Holy See and published by some dioceses in the State, the Pope will only pronounce the initial rite in Catalan at the beginning of the mass, simply the initial rite: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" and "peace be with you." Afterwards, the pontiff will express himself exclusively in Spanish. Regarding the mass, the penitential act will be in Spanish, the first reading will be in Catalan – the second in Spanish – the responsorial psalm will be in Catalan, but the singing of the Gospel will be in Spanish, half of the prayers will be in Spanish and the other half in Catalan, while the eucharistic liturgy will be entirely in Spanish. Only the "Our Father" will be saved, after the "Creed" will also be sung by the choir in Catalan. The choir will also perform in Latin the "Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), the "Kyrie", the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" or the "Sanctus. Only the responses to each of the bilingual prayers of the faithful will be in Latin.

The Sagrada Família basilica is the tallest church in Catholic Christendom and one of the most admired in the whole world, the work of an architect who is venerable in the Catholic institution and whose figure is expected to follow the path to beatification. The Pope will name Gaudí "architect of God", but will give a minor role to his language, which he defended throughout his life. For example, in 1924, during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the Catalan architect was even arrested for speaking Catalan on Diada: a police officer prevented him from going to mass in honor of those who fell in 1714 and unsuccessfully demanded that he speak to him in Spanish.

Bilingual masses are proliferating in the parishes of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, in a Hispanization that is denounced by Christian entities that demand that Catalan be at the center of ecclesial life. But the prospects for the Pope's mass have caused a shock. Father Cinto Busquet, rector of three parishes in Maresme and of a Catalanist disposition, maintains to ARA that "the Pope will do what he has been told to do" in the program by the organization. "I would have liked the blessing to have been entirely in Catalan, the Pope would have done it because it costs him nothing," he asserts. He finds it not very understandable and asks for a reflection on the use of language in the institution in the country's parishes.

In fact, within the Church, it is recalled how two and a half years ago Pope Francis asked why the blessing of an image of La Moreneta for the 800th anniversary of the constitution of the confraternity of Our Lady of Montserrat was written in Spanish. The president of the Spiritual League of Our Lady of Montserrat, Joan Maluquer, also comments that "it is worrying how the archbishopric of Barcelona is incapable of defending our language." "In Barcelona, we have a clearly uprooted Church," he adds. The League is part of the Network of Christian Entities, which brings together ecclesial organizations with a Catalanist and social disposition. Indignation has spread throughout Catholic Catalanism, and among lay people and religious throughout the Principality.

At the same time, the director of the Joan Carrera Foundation, Carles Armengol, also sees it as "surprising," given that "it does not correspond to the messages that were given by the Barcelona organization." And this allows him to conclude that "we are going backwards." The director of the Catalunya Religió Foundation, Jordi Llisterri, sees that the hand of Madrid has caused "Spanish to have gained weight and the difference is that in 2010 [the visit of Benedict XVI] it was worked out between the Archbishopric of Barcelona and the Holy See, while now most of the issues go through commissions from Madrid." "Someone has not been precise at all," he concludes.